Durham Birding (11 Viewers)

[StevieEvans]

bit late....

blanked a call as i thought it was another farmyard mercy mission..... but well & truly gripped as they say..!
a nice large raptor last seen circling north over Ho'ton at 13:00 - hope it'll ditch down into Sth Tyneside & give them lot something to talk about....:-O
lucky swine!

 

[gogsy]

Old Marsden Quarry this afternoon,Chiffchaff x2,Willlow Warbler,Little Owl in usual place,Chaffinch,Greenfinch,Yellowhammer,Blue Tit,Great Tit,Wren,Dunnock,Robin,Goldfinch, and for the first time this year for me Swallows.

 

[DEREK.C.]

(i recently found out about it & i was astonished & heartened to hear what the Police response could be !! :eek!: )
adios
S

After spending a day with a local Policeman last week , i was suprised to see how strict the recently introduced laws is regarding Air Guns. Apparantly unless you are using one on private land and have permission from the landowner , they are basically illegal. In fact it is even illegal to carry one in a sheath on public land.
In the case of schedule 1 birds, been either shot at or disturbed there is a good chance the Armed Response Unit will be called out.
Then again, as is the case with Off Road Motorbikes etc, the law and the actual enforcing of the law are different things entirely.

 

[Ray.Scott]

Spent yesterday in the company of JBee, at Frosterly, to try for better dipper shots.
The day started very misserable as far as the weather went, with rain and dull overcast sky's. there was still plenty bird life - dipper, chaffinch, common sandpiper, blue tit, grey & pied wagtail, chiffchaff, willow warbler, black cap etc, but no good for photography until the weather started to lift around lunch time, when we even saw signs of blue sky and sunshine.
Into the afternoon, JBee, noticed something flying In & out of the stone bridge support. at first he thought It was a bat, but later realised that they were sandmartins, so we spent an hour or so trying to photograph them.

It was amasing how they could hit such a small hole in the concrete while traveling at speed, It must've been harder than trying to land a jet on an aicraft carrier without the brake cable, virtually an Impossible task to get a photograph.

Anyway, realy enjoyed the day and the company :t:.

 

[Ray.Scott]

Oh! and a couple of the virtually Impossible shots .

Image 3 shows the small hole at the bottom right of the frame where they were flying in & out.

 

[JBee]

Oh! and a couple of the virtually Impossible shots .

We certainly rattled a few shots off between us - pity the results hadn't have been better but as you said - an almost impossible job late in the day.
These huge crops were the absolute best I managed to get.

 

[wongifer]

Spent about 3 hours at hetton bogs this afternoon. This produced:

Kingfisher
Coal tit
Great tit
Blue tit
Willow tit
Long tailed tit
Chaffinch
Bullfinch
Dunnock
Chiffchaff
Willow warbler
Reed bunting
Robin
Wren
Blackbird
Blackcap
Great spotted woodpecker
Carrion crow
Jackdaw
Jay
Common gull
Woodpigeon
Sparrowhawk
Kestrel
Moorhen
Coot
Mallard-With 5 ducklings

Kieran Lawrence, 10

 

[matthall]

Summer activity last night : A pipistrelle bat zooming around my front garden .

 

[geordie graham]

After spending a day with a local Policeman last week , i was suprised to see how strict the recently introduced laws is regarding Air Guns. Apparantly unless you are using one on private land and have permission from the landowner , they are basically illegal. In fact it is even illegal to carry one in a sheath on public land.
In the case of schedule 1 birds, been either shot at or disturbed there is a good chance the Armed Response Unit will be called out.
Then again, as is the case with Off Road Motorbikes etc, the law and the actual enforcing of the law are different things entirely.

Stood in local branch of Morrisons when a bloke in FULL camo trousers and jacket walked in carrying a rifle in a shoulder carry case.Nobody said a word.

Graham

 

[StevieEvans]

Houghton area Green Local Patch

single Yellow Wags at H'gate & RM's

 

[DEREK.C.]

More or less finished my Breeding Bird Survey for Elemore Woods, (only took 2 weeks) ,apart from checking for a few late arrivals in a few weeks time . Chiff Chaffs are slightly up on last year with 20 males throughout the woods. Blackcaps on the other hand are worryingly low , only 8 males compared to 23 last year, lets hope a few are a bit late on arriving.6 Siskins still around, maybe stay to breed.
Tawny owls have been very vocal as usual with birds calling at any time, one even started hooting nearby when it heard my mobile phone ringing. Nests range from a crotch in an ivy covered tree, an old Crows nest in a spruce and a Kestrel nestbox.
A Buzzard was causing havoc at the Rookery early morning, probably after the young Rooks, with Snipe drumming on the marsh at 9am.
8 pair of Treecreepers around the woods, 2 pair of Nuthatch (only been here 3 years) and around 34 pair of Coal Tit. But the prize for being common as muck goes to -~
3rd- Great Tit 38 males
2nd- Robin 61 males
1st- Chaffinch 72 males
Decided to come home the long way at 1 pm, around Pittington Hills and High Moorsley, it certainly paid off with a Marsh Harrier gliding over the quarry, scattering Jackdaws, before gaining height and moving off north eastwards

 

[DaveB]

Bishops Park

2 male Redstarts back on territory in the top end of Bishops Park, just to the north of the golf course.

 

[will@bill]

[Aye, tiss a cruel world sometimes. The Lord giveth & taketh away...
Gave the farmer a buzz as soon as we spoke, he appreciated you flagging that up. He said someone was coming straight through.
The farmers dont live on site & am sure they appreciate the benefits of having so many climbing ov..... pairs of eyes ... carefully watching over the place
Whilst i have no current connection with, nor membership of Durham Bird Club, i'm quite sure its committee members / conservation team wouldnt mind being contacted, should any visitors happen to see anything untoward going on down there, eg. poaching, shooting, egging, raping, pillaging etc.
S

cheers stevie had to ring you your number is the only one i had That had any connection with Castle Lake.. i have not got any committee members phone numbers anyway .sorry for causing a stir but we only wanted get that calf some help as it was terrible watching it suffering .and mick knew the farmer lived off site
thanks again

 

[rokermartin]

Today at Hurworth Burn many more Swallows Sand Martins and few House Martins have arrived now. Loads of Willow Warblers, a few Chiffchaffs,4 Yellow Wagtail,2 White Wagtail.Crimdon Dene 5 Swallow,Willow Warblers,Chiffchaffs,2 Whitethroats,2 Wheatear,3 Stonechat,ONLY 1 Blackcap.Where are all the Blackcaps this spring heard or seen very few normally they are well in by now singing there heads off.Blackhalls Rocks 7 Swallow ,3 Sand Martin,2 Stonechat,Wheatear.

 

[matthall]

Not funny . . . . .


Name: Ben Dover
Date: 24/4/2008 6:58 PM
black necked grebe of the heugh battery.

 

[IanF]

Seaton Common from Zinc Works Road this morning - Ring Ouzel x1 still present along fence line by ditch across the saltmarsh - mostly 80yds from the road where the fence dips down. Also Stonechat x2, Golden Plover c.40.

Greatham Creek - roadside pool viewed from hide - Avocet x2, White Wagtail x8, Swallow x3, Meadow Pipit, Reed Bunting, Coot and Canada Goose. Sedge Warbler heard calling. Whitethroat in hedge line.

Sedge Warbler, Yellow Wagtail, Whitethroat, Blackcap and Reed Warbler on Dormans Pool.

Sedge Warbler and Grasshopper Warbler back at Cowpen Bewley Woodland Park this afternoon.

 

[will@bill]

Had a look around Castle lake 5.30ish this evening. Quite on the wader front with only Lapwings and oystercatchers seen. Gadwall, Shel and Tufted ducks present. Also mixture of Sand Martins and Swallows. Walked down to view the Skern and A1 flashes and got two suprises first a Barnacle goose with 14 Canada geese and then ............................a male Reed Bunting .....sharing a tree with a male Linnet both in good voice untill they dissapeared into the oil seed rape growing in the field.

we seen a very pale one.. had us going for a min

 

[Wig131]

Castle lake Buntings.
The first Reed Bunting I saw was clearly a male as he gave good views in the tree for quite a while before flying into the oil seed rape and then siting on top of the rape. I also saw a pale scruffy looking bird in the trees just after the sewage works access road .After lots of study in various books I believe that it was a female reed bunting.

 

[joe1969]

local area
spent a couple of hours (6pm to 830) in the local woods and down by the river wear,noted a total of 46 species,when i first started keeping notes in january i was only getting 30.a party of 25 linnets been the first linnets ive seen locally this year.i also saw my first local common sandpiper of the year as well as 5 blackcap,3 willow warbler and lots of chiffchaff,several swallows and sand martin amongst others

 

[DEREK.C.]

Teesmouth

Down Teesmouth first thing this morning, great start with a Glaucous Gull on Salthome right near the road. 7 Barnacle Geese amongst a few Pink Feet on Back Salthome +loads of Dunlin. Two pair of Avocets were still there, with 8 Whimbrel along Greatham Creek.